Category: Gambling

ICE 2018: UltraPlay To Elevate Its Esports Betting Solutions

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Advanced betting solutions provider UltraPlay has announced that it will be expanding its portfolio through a premium Esports betting site offering during this year’s ICE Totally Gaming that will run in London from February 6th to February 8th.

Having been part of the iGaming industry for seven solid years, UltraPlay has what it takes to successfully expand its portfolio through the launch of its latest products which they say will offer revolutionary match-predicting systems and thus the widest odds feed in the market. Dubbed odds.gg, the system will be presented with all the latest upgrades and add-ons that UltraPlay has been working on in the past year. In addition to its most popular game titles, UltraPlay has also extended its odds feed to include such titles as Kind of Glory, Heroes of the Storm Live as well as live betting options GWENT for FIFA Interactive World Cup. Alongside the Esports betting company’s diversified catalog of 25 competitive games, it further offers over 3,000 events every month and more than 1,500 in-play events.

Last month, UltraPlay announced that GWENT, the Witcher Card Game, was to be added to its Esports betting portfolio which makes it the first online betting provider to offer betting options for the renowned card game. During the acquisition, Peter Ivanov, UltraPlay’s Head of Esports trading said that he believed that “the game holds a great potential to attract many esports punters with passion and experience in card games.”

“Gwent is a perfect choice for a card game that offers endless fun to the players. The esports betting brands using UltraPlay’s products will be one step ahead of the competition providing another exciting option to their players,” he added.

Since it was founded in 2010, UltraPlay has always been very ambitious about offering innovative approaches to the online gaming industry using modern technology to provide advanced betting solutions that are focused on Esports, bitcoin solutions, sports betting, live betting and online casinos.

Former PokerStars Duo Launch Esports Betting Platform

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Lars Lien and Mike Stevens who are both former PokerStars ambassadors recently joined forces to launch a crypto-based Esports betting platform. The platform which is due to go live any time this year is going to be a Bitcoin-based startup where punters will be allowed to wager on professional Esports events. Furthermore, the platform that has been dubbed Luckbox.com, will allow users to make deposits using both in-game items and various cryptocurrencies, something that both Lien and Stevens believe will go a long way in opening up markets that are currently experiencing restrictions as far as payment services are concerned.

While a global roll-out is the ultimate goal of this endeavor, Lien and Stevens are hoping to obtain a license in the Isle of Man for the platform before they begin preparing to extend to other parts of the world. Soon, Luckbox.com will be launching an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and the platform is already being aggressively marketed in various parts of the world including Africa. As of now, the two have raised 483.5 Bitcoin form strategic contributors and the ICO they are planning is intended to generate the remaining finances that they require to launch.

The Initial Coin Offering will revolve around the sale of a utility token that will be used on Luckbox.com and also traded by accredited investors to hold a ‘profit share’ token that will entitle the holder to about 20% of the company’s annual net income.

Luckbox.com will be issuing two tokens to its users once it goes live. The first is LuckCash which is a utility token for the platform and the second is LuckProfits which, like we mentioned earlier, gives the holder contractual rights to a share of the company’s net profits.

Lien and Stevens are among many other entrepreneurs who have seen the huge potential in emerging markets such as Esports. There is generally a whole lot to look forward to in this regard, that is, the development of smart contracts will lower transaction costs, and dispel the dependency on traditional bank accounts.

Sports Betting Concerns Revived by New Fantasy Sports Game

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There is once again a lot of buzz among gambling experts pertaining to a new daily fantasy sports game that allows users to hone in a single NFL playoff game. The question here is; is the contest drawing the fantasy sports industry closer to sports betting which is still illegal in most of the United States?

Leading fantasy sports provider, DraftKings is offering the “Showdown” variant that allows users to pick six athletes from two teams playing against each other in a real-life football game. They get to rack up fantasy points based on certain statistics such as receptions, touchdowns and yards passing, rushing or receiving.

However, the 2006 federal law that effectively outlawed online gambling but gave rise to daily fantasy sports requires that daily fantasy sports contents are based off the performances of athletes in “multiple real-world” sports events and not just single games. This particular detail has been the reason behind raised concerns regarding how regulators and fantasy sports companies such as DraftKings operate.

“This new game continues the industry trend of trying to get as close as possible to single-game betting,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

He further mentioned that the games have in many ways blurred the largely fictional line between daily fantasy sports and sports betting. DraftKings, on the other hand, argue that the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act only applies in cases where there is an underlying violation of state gambling statutes first – so far, there has not been any objection to the competition by any of the states.

“This act is basically irrelevant. Everything defaults to state law now,” said Anthony Cabot, DraftKings outside legal counsel, referring to the federal law that the industry has long cited for justifying its existence. “If it’s not in violation of state law, then there’s no violation of the federal act. It’s a big red herring.”

Meanwhile, the United States Supreme Court is still weighing New Jersey’s bid to overturn the sports betting ban that has been in effect in all but four states. If the ruling is favorable, the numerous debates that are popping up in regards to daily fantasy sports will be definitely be muted.

Revel Casino Finally Sold, Could Be Reopened in the Summer

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Revel Casino, Atlantic City’s biggest casino flop is getting back in the game under new ownership and a new name. In an official statement on Monday, Colorado developer Bruce Deifik announced that he had purchased the former Revel Casino hotel from Glenn Straub for 200 million. Deifik plans to reopen the casino this summer which also happens to be around the same time that the nearby former Trump Taj Mahal casino will be reopened under Hard Rock ownership.

The casino will be reopened with a new name, Ocean Resorts Casino, and it is anticipating to create over 3,000 local jobs. Deifik and group are also planning to bring back restaurants that were successfully operating in the casino before it closed down while at the same time offering some new venues like a top Asian noodle bar and a high-end players club.

“We are incredibly excited that we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire this tremendous property at a time when Atlantic City is seeing great economic strides,” Deifik said. “Now the city has a number of exciting new projects with our property and the Hard Rock, as well as Stockton University’s new campus and the expansion of the medical center.”

For months, Floridian businessman Glenn Straub denied that there was any deal in the works for the sale of the property. He had acquired the $2.4 billion property for $82 million in bankruptcy court back in August 2015 and it was even rumored that he was planning to reopen it himself. Straub confirmed that a deal with Bruce Deifik and Moody’s Investors Service had been closed on January 4th.

The developers will, of course, face a number of significant challenges in their attempt to revive the casino. Moody’s mentioned in the statement that the project may struggle to attract a big enough slice of Atlantic City’s diminished number of casino lovers since it will be repaying debts amid tight competition from other properties – at least at the first stages. This report was based on Deifik’s plan to borrow about $255 million for acquisition and renovation costs.

Analysts Raise Concerns

There has been a lot of chatter among analysts who are mixed on whether the seven already operational Atlantic City casinos can handle competition from the two more operators, that is the former Revel Casino and the former Taj Mahal. Some analysts think that the two may heart smaller casinos and even lead to their closure. Others are quite optimistic about the new offerings, pointing out that they have the potential of attracting off-state visitors and gamblers.

Blockchain Could Redefine the Sports Betting Experience

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Since 2017, a plethora of sports betting sites and apps have been shifting towards offering bettors the opportunity to place bets discretely from anywhere using their smartphones. The convenience that this provides has been a great marketing move that has paid off handsomely by attracting a staggering number of new users to online sports betting. However, there have been challenges when it comes to payment systems especially when it comes to traditional payment services and digital wallets who have always been circumspect about supporting online gambling. While this would have represented a dead end of sorts in the past, the utilization of specialized payment gateways in facilitating bankroll funding and payouts in online casinos took over.

Even though these services can be thought of as saviors to the online gambling scene, their involvement has in many ways amplified the risks of failure and fraud. The aforementioned payment gateways and services are always under threat from hackers and other cyber-criminals. Even handicapper sites and services that usually offer paid analyses to less savvy bettors do not always produce the wins that they promise to gamblers.

To address these issues, stakeholders in the online gambling industry are looking into blockchain technology. Several efforts are already being made in order to create better online betting experiences. Just to mention a few, HEROcoin is an effort that aims to decentralize sports betting, BlitzPredict through its aggregation service intends to provide gamblers with trustworthy insights and Electroneum’s token is designed to be used a digital currency in online gambling sites.

Facilitation of Easier Funding and Payouts

Unlike traditional means, payments made using blockchain are much faster as the tokens do not need to be routed through several financial institutions or clearing houses. In essence, this gives the users ultimate power over how and when they use their money. Furthermore, Electroneum which is a relatively new cryptocurrency has set a pace for allowing easy estimation of digital currencies and fiat currency by limiting its token to two decimal places.

Transparency

Blockchain powered platforms such as HEROcoin are offering great ways of achieving transparency and fairness by making betting a peer-to-peer and decentralized activity. Not only do users get to trace the flow of money and the terms but they also are allowed to define the conditions of wagers through smart contracts.

Trustworthy Insights

Services like BlitzPredict promote quality insights by allowing analytic enthusiasts to share their prediction models with other users. High performing models in BlitzPredict’s framework are rewarded with the platform’s own token which can then be used to place bets using the platform. This kind of rewards mechanism encourages gamblers to make data-driven decisions rather than relying on bad advice or hunches.

Metal Casino Signs Ozzy Osbourne as Brand Ambassador

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Metal rock superstar Ozzy Osbourne has signed a new deal with the renowned Metal Casino to be its brand casino – he will also be a part owner of the casino.  Metal Casino’s major focus is on metal fans and thus most, if not all, of their offerings give players a harder rush with prizes that will definitely appeal to rock lovers.

Speaking on his new venture into the casino world, Ozzy who is considered the “Godfather of Metal” said, “The guys at Metal Casino told me that their brand was all about being true, relevant and dedicated to the customer and that really resonated with me. To me, that translated as keeping it real, keeping it original, and doing it all for your fans, and that’s all I’ve been trying to do my whole life.”

The crew at Metal Casino are also just as excited about the partnership as Ozzy is especially because it is perhaps the biggest casino sponsorship deal in the world right now. While the casino is already considered to be the world’s biggest, boldest and most hardcore online casino, being backed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will see it soar to even greater heights in the online casino world.

About Metal Casino

Metal Casino was launched in August last year with the mission to be more than just a regular online casino – the founders envisioned it as a platform that would unite the global community of metal lovers and casino enthusiasts. Their partnerships with some of the biggest names in hard rock like Megadeath’s David Ellefson, Guns N Roses’ Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ and Anthrax’s Scott Ian has elevated their status in both metal music and casino circles. The casino kicked off with all the right notes including having a catalog filled with heavy metal themed promotions and games such as Motorhead and Guns N Roses slot games. It further housed a very tempting Merchandise room where players can find concert tickets and other Metal Casino apparel – at the moment there are tickets for Guns N Roses and Iron Maiden.

Among the apparel that fans and players can find on the site’s Merchandise Room is David Ellefson’s signed Jackson bass guitar. While Ozzy Osbourne does not have any official merchandise on the site, there is a likelihood that tickets, as well as signed apparel from his farewell tour, will be added to the Merchandise room soon. Some diehard fans are even speculating the appearance of toy bats signed by Ozzy in the Merchandise room soon. We will just have to wait and see.

19 PSPC Platinum Passes to Be Awarded All Through January

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A new year is finally here and looking back at the previous month, there are a lot of announcements that were made then that are going to make a huge impact in the near future. One of the biggest and most exciting developments in the world of poker was the unveiling of PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship which is better known as the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC). Billed as one of the biggest tournaments in the history of poker, the championship is scheduled for January 2019 and will attract a huge number of poker enthusiasts from all parts of the world. There are so many great things to look forward to in regards to the championship with the biggest highlight being the first-place prize which amounts to a whopping $9 million after PokerStars adds in an extra $1 million to it – PokerStars will contribute the remaining $8 million gradually before the end of 2018.

Starting this month (January 2018) and all through the year PokerStars will be giving away over 300 PSPC Platinum Passes each being worth $30,000 and including the $25,000 buy-in, about $2,000 for travel expenses as well as accommodation at the Atlantis Resorts where the championship will be hosted. This month will see 19 Platinum Passes fall into the hands of lucky participants in a range of online and live events that the renowned poker powerhouse will be hosting. What better way to begin a new year than getting to win one of this Platinum Passes which also gives you an assurance of beginning the next year (2019) with a bang. Here is how you can get a hold of these Platinum Passes:

From Online Events

  • Winter Series Main Event winners (December 25, 2017 – January 7, 2018) – 4 Platinum Passes.
  • Winter Series All-in Shootout winner January 8, 2018 – 1 – Platinum Pass.
  • Monthly Sunday Cashers Final winner February 3, 2018 – 1 Platinum Pass.

From Live Tournament

  • Italian Poker Open January 3-8, 2018 – 1 Platinum Pass.
  • ACOP Platinum Series 20 January 5-14, 2018 – 1 Platinum Pass.
  • PCA Bahamas 2018 January 6-14, 2018 – 5 Platinum Passes.
  • PokerStars MEGASTACK Ulster January 12 -14, 2018 – 1 Platinum Pass.
  • PokerStars Festival London January 22-29, 2018 – 3 Platinum Passes.
  • BSOP SAO Paulo January 25 -30, 2018 – 2 Platinum Passes.

Good Luck!

2017’s Biggest Casino Mergers and Acquisitions

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This year was a memorable one for the casino industry with various parts of the industry being affected by one thing or the other. Mergers and acquisitions were some of the major highlights for the multi-billion-dollar industry. While we got to see some of the most notable conglomerates from Las Vegas sell off properties and restructure their portfolios, some other renowned gaming operators joined forces with manufacturers with one of the amalgamations falling short of the expectations when a key stockholder thwarted the union. Obviously, 2018 will begin on quite a different note from what we experienced at the beginning of 2017.

Caesars Entertainment’s Big Year

Nevada-based gaming corporation faired on very well this year thanks to the stakes it had in all the entities that were part of 2017’s biggest merger. In October, Caesars which owns and operates more than 50 casinos and hotels in the US and other parts of the globe announced that it was finally out the woods in regards to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection – this had been dubbed the ‘largest and most complex bankruptcy in a generation.’ The gaming power-house merged two of its operating entities and then it formed a real estate investment fund (REIT).

The agreement allows Caesars Entertainment to keep operating the gaming floors as well as maintaining ownership of most of the company’s resorts. The real estate investment fund (REIT) will, however, take ownership of 18 properties that including Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The REIT is expected to lease gaming the gaming floors back to Caesars and pay creditors who were not paid during Caesar’s bankruptcy.

Other Headliners

Another merger that made the headlines this year was between Connecticut’s Native American gaming operators, the Mohegan Sun and Mashantucket tribes who joined forces to build a satellite facility in a bid to outcompete MGM Springfield, a satellite casino expected to launch in 2018.

June saw yet another key transaction for the casino industry when Tavern, slot route, and renowned casino operator Golden Entertainment jointly acquired American Casino and Entertainment. The $850 million deal is widely praised for the great things that came after it including putting two Arizona Charlie’s casinos and the Stratosphere under the Golden banner.

Texas: Sports Betting Still a Long Shot Even If Ban Lifts

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There has been a lot of buzz pertaining to the legalization of sports betting in the United States but Texans are unlikely to reap any benefits from the much-awaited lift of the federal ban. So, if you are a resident of Texas and you were looking forward to plunking down some Super Bowl or Final Four wagers with legal bookies within your Texan locality in the near future, you might have to put your dreams on hold.

Even though the federal ban could be overturned by the United States Supreme Court as early as spring, observers are convinced that it will be very unlikely that Texas’ Governor Greg Abbott or the state’s legislature will take the opportunity to support the legalization of sports betting in the state – this is even after putting into consideration the huge economic impact that it would bring. To elaborate on this, financial experts estimate that a legal and regulated sports gambling market in Texas has the potential of boosting its economy by about $1.7 billion annually while at the same time creating over 9,300 jobs.

Critics of the bill argue that the legalization of sports gambling through the abolishment of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act will come with some inevitable negatives. These include the need for more social services such as counseling for people who will eventually develop gambling-related problems. Also, there will be the need for more government bureaucracy to oversee and regulate the gambling industry.

“The biggest base of opposition (to the expansion of legal gambling in Texas) is a moral one and comes from political conservatives — and they are a powerful constituency in the state right now,” said Jim Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. “So you have to look at the chances being pretty slim at this point.”

Currently, Texas has very strict anti-gambling laws that only allow for legal gambling in the state’s lottery. These laws further limit legal gambling in the state to some pari-mutuel wagering on horse and dog racing as well as social gambling such as charity bingo. Texas legislators have not been very welcoming to the idea of expanding these existing forms of gambling that they already have control of.

“I think a pretty good chunk of the (Texas) Senate and the House would be against legalized betting on sporting events,” said JoAnn Fleming, executive director of Grassroots America-We the People, a tea party-aligned organization that is usually perceived to be pulling the strings of conservative Texas lawmakers. “It would face an uphill battle.”

2017 Poker Wrap Up: Bitcoin, Hackers, and Ransoms

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As 2017 comes to an end we look back at some of the dark forces that afflicted the poker industry all through the year. When it comes to poker, it might still be too early to call it a year even if it is just a few more days to 2018 – it is one of the shakiest businesses in the world and anything can happen at any time. So, let us just delve into the events that shook the poker world most so far;

May’s Hack Jobs

The hackers targeted High-limit poker pros who they left defenseless by seizing control of their phones, Facebook and Twitter accounts. The poker pros who later publicly revealed that they had been the victims of hacking included Cate Hall, Dan Smith, Vanessa Selbst and Vanessa Russo. However, according to poker pro Doug Polk, the poker pros mentioned above were just a tiny fraction of the high-stakes community that had had their personal information stolen by hackers.

“The hackers have infiltrated bank accounts and tried to initiate wire transfers, used credit cards to rack up charges, gotten into Dropbox accounts containing copies of passports, credit cards, and tax returns, and extorted victims using incriminating information found in their email accounts,” Polk said in his popular YouTube channel.

Extortion

This was a result of hacking but this time it is not just individual players who were affected but a whole site – America’s Cardroom. The hacker demanded ransom forcing the site to cancel all ongoing tournaments and refund all player buy-ins in early September. The standoff which lasted for three days, however, played out in favor of Winning Poker Network CEO Phil Nagy who refused to pay the hacker saying:

“We had the attacker get on chat and say I am gonna attack you in one minute and he does the attack, but I will never pay an attacker I won’t pay a ransom, I won’t do it because once you let the bully get your lunch money, he’s taking your money all the time. Once they make you a bit*h, you are a bit*h, and I don’t like the idea of being a bit*h.”

Well Played!

Enter Crypto

Decentralized digital currencies have gained a lot of popularity in poker circles this year thanks to the buzz bitcoin has been creating. Cryptocurrencies have proven in a very short time that they are the key to turning an average poker bankroll into a massive pile of real money. In fact, a number of online poker sites are already supporting cryptocurrency transactions which come with the added advantages of reliability and unmatched processing speeds.

Still, we have to acknowledge the downsides of this particular arrangement by putting into consideration the unpredictable volatility of these cryptocurrencies – case in point, bitcoin. Crypto might be a savior thanks to the exceptional security associated with blockchain technology but a lot of this security is compromised when the decentralized currencies are hosted on centralized networks like poker sites. We wouldn’t that now, would we?